After finishing P.E., Rias took a quick shower and returned to the locker room, but her thoughts remained tangled around Ren Kuroda.
From their earlier conversation, she had already formed a preliminary conclusion—Ren was, without question, a battle maniac.
People like that weren't necessarily dangerous… at least, not in the usual sense. They wouldn't attack those who didn't interest them.
But to say they weren't dangerous at all would be laughable.
Once someone like that encountered an opponent who truly excited them, they would fight—regardless of sides, regardless of location. Just like the legendary "Two Heavenly Dragons" who once crashed into a three-way war without hesitation.
Rias had just finished changing back into her school uniform when her phone suddenly rang from inside her skirt pocket.
Glancing at the caller ID, she answered calmly.
"Sona, did you find anything about what I asked? Who exactly is he?"
On the other end of the line was a beautiful girl with shoulder-length black hair and rimless glasses, her refined appearance giving her the air of a quiet literary type. At that moment, she was looking over the information she had just gathered.
"Ren Kuroda is not an ordinary human—but he does possess human traits. He's a half-yokai, born from a union between a yokai and a human. He was sealed away years ago… and he's also the sworn elder brother of Yasaka, the supreme commander of the Kyoto yokai faction."
The girl speaking was Sona Shitori—the student council president of Kuoh Academy.
Her true name, however, was Sona Sitri. Like Rias, she was an heir to a high-ranking devil family—one of the 72 Pillars.
With backgrounds like theirs, and considering that Ren hadn't made much effort to hide his identity, uncovering this information hadn't been particularly difficult.
"So that means he represents the Kyoto yokai faction?" Rias murmured softly. "With a background like that… and he still wants to challenge the Devil Kings? Isn't he afraid of dragging the entire Kyoto faction into trouble?"
Her quiet muttering didn't escape Sona's ears.
"Challenge the Devil Kings? Rias, what are you talking about?" Sona's voice sharpened with surprise.
"It's nothing… just forget what I said. Thanks for the information."
Ignoring the protest that immediately came from the other end, Rias calmly hung up.
But as she thought again about Ren's goals—and the yokai faction behind him—her head began to ache.
The Kyoto yokai faction was indeed a force to be reckoned with, but compared to the three great factions of Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels, it was still relatively minor.
Rias didn't know whether Ren truly represented the entire yokai faction. But if conflict were to break out between yokai and devils, it could very well destabilize the fragile peace that had held between the three factions for so long.
While Rias was busy worrying over Ren, she had no idea that trouble was already closing in on her as well.
Although the lower-ranking fallen angel Raynare had been eliminated, the information regarding the Longinus-class Sacred Gear—the Boosted Gear—had already been reported to higher authorities.
Among the thirteen Longinus, their overwhelming power was something no major faction could afford to ignore.
And so, following the report Raynare had sent before her death… several unwelcome guests had arrived in this town.
"Issei, based on what you know about that teacher, how likely do you think it is that we can persuade him this time?"
Concerned that a clash between the Kyoto yokai faction and the devils might shatter the hard-won peace among the three biblical factions, Rias had assigned Issei Hyoudou and Yuuto Kiba to keep an eye on Ren—and, if possible, convince him to abandon his plan of challenging the Devil Kings.
The reason for choosing those two was simple.
Ren had previously saved Issei, so Rias believed they had a decent relationship.
As for Yuuto Kiba… he had volunteered himself.
For reasons even he couldn't quite explain, Kiba had felt an immediate sense of familiarity upon meeting Issei. Before long, he had come to regard him as a close friend.
"To be honest, I'm not that familiar with the new teacher," Issei said with a tired sigh as they left the Occult Research Club room. "But if it's something Rias-senpai wants, then we'll just have to give it our best shot."
He was exhausted.
He had thought that joining the Occult Research Club would mean spending his days surrounded by the two senpai he admired.
Instead, he'd been handed a mission like this right out of the gate.
Hyoudou Issei liked beautiful girls—not handsome guys.
Yet somehow, both the target of this mission and his partner were the exact type he disliked the most: ridiculously good-looking men.
"Ugh! Rias-senpai, Akeno-senpai, and even Koneko-chan are all there… so why did it have to be us two paired together?!"
"Well," Kiba said with a gentle smile, "the president originally planned to have Koneko work with you. But she seemed quite resistant to the idea."
He paused, then added warmly,
"So I volunteered to be your partner instead. And I think that by getting to know each other better, we can become true friends, don't you?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Issei snapped.
Grabbing Kiba by the shoulders, he shook him violently.
"Give me back my Koneko-chan! I wanted a cute girl as my partner—not a suspiciously charming pretty boy with questionable preferences!"
Just as the two of them stood at the school gate, waiting for Ren to appear, Kiba's expression suddenly shifted.
The easy smile vanished, replaced by sharp vigilance as he turned toward a certain direction—and instinctively stepped in front of Issei.
Approaching them was a tall, strikingly handsome man with white hair, dressed in a black jacket. His physique was like that of a model.
He hadn't deliberately released any aura.
And yet, as a swordsman, Kiba could instinctively tell—
This man was dangerous.
"I heard that the current 'Red Dragon Emperor' had appeared," the white-haired man said casually. "I had some expectations… but looking at you now, I have to say—this generation's Red Dragon Emperor is quite disappointing."
He paid no attention to Kiba, who stood in his way, as if he didn't exist.
Instead, his gaze went straight past him—to Issei Hyoudou.
Being targeted yet again, Issei's face twisted into misery.
At this point, he was genuinely starting to wonder if he was cursed.
Why was it that not a single beautiful girl appeared when he wanted one—but handsome men kept showing up one after another, each of them strangely interested in him?
"Poor Ddraig," a voice suddenly echoed from the white-haired man's body. "To think that the current bearer of the Boosted Gear is such a weak human, driven entirely by lust."
The voice belonged to the White Dragon Emperor—Albion.
At the same moment that voice rang out, the Sacred Gear within Issei reacted.
A blinding crimson light erupted from his arm, pulsing with power as if answering the call.